In the news

Advocates argue for more diverse state parole board

February 28, 2013

Two civil rights advo­cates argued Wednesday against the reap­point­ment of state parole board member Lucy Soto-​​Abbe, saying she is wrong for the panel because of her back­ground as a long­time victim wit­ness advo­cate and ten­dency to deny parole.

Addressing the Governor’s Council, attor­neys Patricia Garin and Leslie Walker said they would like to see more can­di­dates like Tonomey Coleman, a crim­inal defense attorney. He was nom­i­nated to the board ear­lier this month, along with Soto-​​Abbe, by Gov­ernor Deval Patrick.

“We need to have a more diverse parole board with people on it that are going to stand up and think of some cre­ative things to do to change this system,” said Garin, the co-​​director of The Pris­oners Assis­tance Project at North­eastern Uni­ver­sity Law School, during Soto-Abbe’s reap­point­ment hearing at the State House.

The true number is likely to be some­where between these two fig­ures according to Jack Levin of the Brud­nick Centre on Vio­lence and Con­flict at North­eastern Uni­ver­sity. Mr Levin distinguishes […]

News@Northeastern is Northeastern University’s primary source of news and information. Whether it happens in the classroom, in a laboratory, or on another continent, we bring you timely stories about every aspect of life, learning and discovery at Northeastern. Contact the news team